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Excess fatigue is another symptom of vit. D deficiency. I know that my energy level improved once I started the mega-doses. I just had my blood drawn today, so when I see the rheumy on Feb. 17, I'll see if my "number" has gone up.
Marla

Hi Marla and all.......I was looking at vitamin D supplements at Walgreens the other day and asked one of the pharmacy techs (not a pharmacist, I don't think) and I asked her if one could get too much D. She said Oh yes, it's oil soluble. I asked her how much we needed and at first she said 30 IU's. I said but with the calcium supplements, they give you like 400-500 IU's. She said, Oh I was thinking of milligrams. Then I said, not to be difficult, but why are you selling supplements up to 1000-2000 IU's, if you only need 400-500? She just shrugged her shoulders and I said, well I guess I'll just have to talk to my doc about it. She walked away. I got the distinct feeling she didn't know what the heck she was talking about. Can anyone tell me if it would hurt if I would add an extra 500 IU's in with my calcium supplement that already gives me 500 IU's a day? I have severe fatigue and lots of knee crackling. I hate to have to ask my doc for a bloodwork because believe it or not, my insurance does not pay for bloodwork. Do you think it would be safe for me to try adding in a little extra on my own and just see how I do? What would happen if I got too much? Also, does vitamin D interact with any drugs? I heard it might, but they didn't mention what drugs those were. Thanks in advance for any answers.

Jeff read a report that the feds are considering upping the daily recommended dose. It seems that since we now all use so much sunscreen to prevent skin cancer, many people now don't get enough rays for our bodies to make enough vit.D. Crazy, huh? My rheumy has me taking a mega-dose of 50,000 IU once a week, but she still told me to continue taking my daily dose of 2000 IU. I had my blood drawn last week, and I'll see her on Feb. 17th, so I'll let you know what my results were.
Hugs,
Marla

Thats interesting Marla...I have read over and over that lupus patients lack D due to the lack of the sun as well. Mine are also very low and I was given an actual prescription dose with Calcium. But I believe the rheumie was also protecting my bones as I was on prednisone for a while at that point, and it is REALLy important if youre on steroids to take the extra calcium and D.. Steroids long term cause SERIOUS bone damage (osteoporosis) and it is not uncommon for lupus patients to need hip replacements, etc after years of being on it. So its very important to take care of that. The doctor seemed pretty specific about dosage - THIS much Vit D with THIS much calcium-type of thing, so it may be best to ask doc about increasing it?
I also was told by neurologist that lack of Vitamin D is a MAJOR cause of CNS symptoms, and is also found in patients with AI diseases of the nervous sytem - MS, etc.(low levels of Vit D)
Lauri

For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, love and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

Hi all,
Because of my hypocalcemia, the endocrenologist has me taking 600's plus D. As I have so many pills to take, 5-6,3times a day I've choosen to take the chewables. They are fruit favored and are like candy. Don't feel like they are pills.

Hi Lauri,
That's interesting about the CNS involvement, since I have lots of neuropathy in my toes, feet and part-way up my legs, but the docs have never really seemed to interested in addressing it.
I already know about the dangers of steroids to the bones. I haven't taken steroids, but I developed a bone disease called Avascular necrosis (also known as Osteonecrosis). Many people with AVN got it from taking steroids. I'm just lucky that way, I got it anyway! Because I have AVN, I can never be prescribed steroids. That's why my rheumy went straight to the MTX.
Marla

I too have low D, although my doctor told me everyone is Vitamin D deficient if you live in the northern hemisphere. I'm in Minnesota. Apparently between November and April, the sun is too far away to provide any Vitamin D benefit. Then add to it that Lupus patients tend to stay out of the sun during the summer and it's not surprising we are low on Vitamin D. I've read that you can take up to 3000mg a day safely. I take 1,000 and have every day faithfully after the burst of the 50,000 strenght dose. I actually dropped 3 points (from 29 to 26 this winter). So I probably can take more and will. What does it cause, it supposedly has a lot of effects. Heart trouble being one of the major ones. But in addtion, it can affect your mood and possibly plays a role in autoimmune diseases. It's interesting and I recommend reading up on it on the internet. As far as the calcium pills with D...although nice, I believe they only provide 400 mg of D. You are probably safe taking a 1000 mg of D with that. But with all medication, check with your doctor. Also, the only way to know where your D level is, is to have your blood checked.

My Avatar represents most of my doctors. They don't want to look at what is going on, listen to what I'm saying or tell me anything!! Sound familiar?

Heh, imagine the music we could make if we were all in one room... just a lot of cracking going on I'm thinking! ~rofl~

I have Sleep Apnoea as well so the extreme fatigue is kinda normal for me. I never know if I'm tired because of Lupus or the SA or both! ~lol~ When I was first put on the Vit D my levels were at 4 and since taking it they've come up to 36 which is the low end of a normal scale (normal scale apparently being 32-150) so I could probably still afford to take more. But yeah, probably still best to have it checked by your Doc to be sure even though it sucks for you having to pay for it! ~hugs~

Numpty:- (num-p-tee) dialect, chiefly Scot, ~n. 1. a bumbling fool: one who is intellectually challenged. 2. widely known in Scotland as an MSP (Member of Scottish Parliament).